The International Mission Board (IMB) and Woman’s Missionary Union (WMU) invite all Southern Baptists to participate in the 2023 Lottie Moon Christmas Offering and Week of Prayer for International Missions.
This year’s Week of Prayer will be observed Dec. 3-10. In this season, Southern Baptists are encouraged to consider the power of “Impacting Lostness Together.” The goal for the 2023-2024 offering is $200 million. Last year’s offering totaled $194,314,716 (as of Sept. 28), surpassing the $190 million goal for the 2022-2023 Lottie season.
Goals like these are only reached through cooperation of Southern Baptists by prayer and faithful giving. While the offering is named after the Christmas season, people can give throughout the year.
During this year’s SBC annual meeting, IMB President Paul Chitwood emphasized the importance of working together.
“Your IMB missionaries are addressing the world’s greatest problem with the only solution, God’s solution – the gospel. But they need your prayers, your support, your continued generosity and more workers in the harvest,” he said.
Because of their steadfast presence among the nations, 3,521 missionaries and 95 Global Missionary Partners were able to engage 67 new people groups and places and see 178,177 people come to Christ last year.
“This can only happen if we work together to raise up more missionaries and champion the Lottie Moon offering and the Cooperative Program,’ Chitwood continued.
This year’s Week of Prayer and Lottie Moon offering downloadable resources are available now on the IMB’s website. The site includes stories, full-color photos, videos, the Global Impact Guide, social media graphics, presentation graphics, kids’ resources, goal posters and a bulletin insert.
In addition, churches can request a printed brochure about Lottie Moon’s life, a life-size display of Lottie Moon and other resources. New this year, churches can get a more personalized experience. It is now more convenient for a church to collect online gifts for the Lottie Moon offering. Each Southern Baptist church can receive a personalized link on IMB’s website with the church’s name and giving goal. This personalized resource can be found by visiting IMB.org/LottieMoon.
All resources can be ordered through the IMB store at no cost to churches. Most are also available in English, Spanish, Korean and Chinese. Speakers can also be requested during this season by visiting IMB.org/SpeakerRequest.
The Lottie Moon Christmas Offering® is a registered trademark of Woman’s Missionary Union.
Week of Prayer
The Week of Prayer is annually observed by SBC churches to pray for missionaries, their ministries and their families. Prayer is the fuel for spiritually sustaining missionaries in places where the gospel is greatly needed, but often opposed.
The official dates are the last Sunday in November through the first Sunday in December. Your church can choose this date or another time during the Christmas season to participate.
In addition to downloading these items, if your church needs additional prayer guides or envelopes, please contact us at the Helpdesk at helpdesk@brnunited.org.
Day One
We will reach the lost through obedience
Lostness around the world is growing every day. In fact, 59% of the world’s population remains unreached. This means there are less than 2% evangelical Christians within their people group or nearby. Unless something changes, they have little to no chance of hearing the gospel in their lifetime.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for new initiatives around the world to seek the lost and offer a message of eternal hope.
- Ask God to provide more opportunities for Don and Pam to have deep gospel conversations with people and long-term friendships.
- Pray that God would lead more workers to seek the lost around the world and respond with the gospel solution.
Day Two
We will reach the lost through innovation
Michaela Knippers grabs the bulky virtual reality goggles off the desk and tightens them onto her head. Her husband, Justin, is already strapped in and waving his hand in the air to scroll through different maps he sees through the goggles.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for the real people inside the virtual world who need the gospel.
- Ask God to help the Knippers learn Japanese so they may transition relationships from VR to IRL.
- Pray for more missionaries who are willing to use the newest innovations and technologies to reach the world for Christ.
Day Three
We will reach the lost through research
Planes, trains, buses, motorcycles, cars and boats will get them as close as possible before setting off on foot to find hidden people groups. International Mission Board missionaries are going the extra mile, quite often literally. Why?
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for Holiday as he and other Project 3000 missionaries scout out and research their people groups.
- Pray the Lord will open the hearts of these unengaged and unreached people groups.
- Ask God to call more people to serve through Project 3000.
Day Four
We will reach the lost through partnerships
Prison ministry. Sports ministry. Developing national missionaries. The dreams discussed around the table were big. International Mission Board missionaries Matt and Gretchen Clay saw the passion rising as the group of pastors and lay ministers figured out ways to introduce their North African neighbors to the gospel. But the Clays didn’t have the resources to invest at the deep level needed by their brothers and sisters in Christ.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for these partners as they seek to take the gospel to areas previously untouched by the good news of Jesus Christ.
- Praise God for requests to be trained and metored.
- Ask for continued fruit in the work of the Clays, who are a steadfast presence among the lost.
Day Five
We will reach the lost through church planting
It was just a normal meeting of some Zambian pastors and a few workers from Christian organizations. When Randy Windham stood up and handed a sign-up sheet to the person next to him, they had no idea that ministry as they knew it was about to change.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for the Windhams and their work in Zambia.
- Ask God to bring boldness and wisdom to local believers as they are discipled.
- Pray for continued church multiplication.
Day Six
We will reach the lost through relationships
Rose had a passion to reach a people group situated in the Horn of Africa. Accessing them was another question altogether. She knew she couldn’t do it alone.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray for ministry among Rose’s people group to flourish, even as they experience ongoing political conflict. Her passion is to see the lost come to saving faith.
- Pray the coalition of Latin American churches grows in relationship with the IMB as we reach the nations together.
- Ask that more of Rose’s family in Mexico will come to faith in Jesus Christ.
Day Seven
We will reach the lost through discipleship
On another sunny day in Northern Uganda, Hector steps into the river and turns to extend his hand to Oketa Robert, a new believer. Oketa Robert walks into the water, ready to take the next step of faith and be baptized. He is one of 34 believers baptized on this day in early spring. Each new follower of Jesus is a refugee from the Rhino Camp Refugee Settlement.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Thank the Lord that He is using missionaries like Paul and national believers like Joseph to reach the Deaf.
- Pray for Joseph as he continues to spread the gospel to the Deaf while being burdened for his lost family members.
- Pray for Deaf Pathway Global as they work to translate the Scriptures and present them visually for the Deaf to have gospel access.
Day Eight
We will reach the lost through commitment
Natural disasters can strike anytime and anywhere. They leave millions of people in need. Those in the path of storms, earthquakes or hurricanes often find themselves hungry, homeless and hopeless.
PRAYER REQUESTS:
- Pray God would bless the long-term commitment of the IMB and national Christians who faithfully serve.
- Pray for Robert Botta and others serving in disaster relief work, that they would have strength and wisdom during difficult days.
- Ask God to lead Southern Baptists to stay focused on reaching the nations and to generously support those who are working among the world’s lost.
